A BOLTON-based dental practice group, which has 750,000 patients nationwide, has plunged into the red because of a continuing shortage of dentists.

Integrated Dental Holdings, which runs more than 500 surgeries, today posted pre-tax losses of £2.21m for the year to October 31 against profits of £550,000 in the previous 12 months.

The losses came despite an increase in turnover, from £67.47m to £68.81m. There is no final dividend. Chairman Matthew Allen said the year was disappointing financially, with the shortage of dentists at the root of the results.

Last week it was announced that a consortium of directors is considering taking the group private.

Mr Allen, who is part of the consortium of directors, said: “Discussions are at a very exploratory stage and there is no guarantee that any offer will be forthcoming.”

Overall turnover grew last year following a number of acquisitions, but like-for-like sales were down by 1.5 per cent.

David Hudaly

Chief executive David Hudaly said there is a national shortage of dentists and experienced ancillary staff. It is estimated that the UK is short of 1,400 qualified professionals.

IDH had 55 vacancies at the end of December.

Mr Hudaly said: “We do anticipate that this level will reduce over the next few months.”

The group said there is some positive news on the recruitment front, as the government has relaxed its language-testing %requirements from EU-qualified professionals.

Mr Allen said that should make it easier for the group to recruit from countries such as Spain and Portugal, where there are too many dentists. In the future, they could also come from Poland and Slovakia, as the EU expands.

IDH sold 12 under-performing practices last year, which raised a total of £2.1m, and has disposed of another since the year-end, which fetched £110,000.

Following last week’s announcement of a possible management buyout, shares in IDH soared to a 14-month high of 45.5p. Today they were trading at 37.5p.

Mr Allen said he was confident that the group’s strategies would leave it stronger as the dynamics of NHS dentistry change.